My Life as a Teenage Autobot
Chapter 18: Restoration
The last Iacon relic resided in an ancient temple deep within the jungles of Peru. After about an hour of hacking through the local flora, the Autobots finally arrived at the base of the temple. Optimus sent Arcee and Jenny inside to retrieve the relic while he and the others remained outside to guard the entrance.
Not wanting to repeat the incident at the pyramids of Giza, the two female Autobots took care to disable the booby traps that they came across. It was long and tedious work, but well worth the extra time. The two retrieved the final Omega Key and bridged back to the base along with the other Autobots.
"So Optimus, when do we get to revive Cybertron?" Bulkhead wondered. "I am afraid that we cannot venture home yet, for we still need the location of the Omega Lock." Optimus replied. The other Autobots just gave him confused looks. "Wait, I thought you said this was the last Iacon relic?" Arcee questioned.
"It is." Optimus began. "The Omega Lock is located on Cybertron, however its exact coordinates are unknown. Before we go home, we must decipher the location of the Omega Lock, for it is the conduit that channels the Omega Keys' energy."
"Ratchet, I want you and Jetfire to begin analysis of the Keys to see if they might point us in the right direction." Optimus ordered. "We'll get right on it." Jetfire declared. However, after hours of examining the Keys, the two scientists made little progress- if any at all. "Ah bugger." Jetfire spat. "Come on Jetfire. We have to do this for Cybertron." Ratchet reminded. "I know, I know." Jetfire replied. "But we've looked over these things for hours and don't even know which hemisphere the Omega Lock is located."
More examination and scanning produced no results. "Agh, come on!" Jetfire exclaimed. In an act of frustration, Jetfire slammed one of the Omega Keys into another. "Jetfire!" Ratchet scolded. "Ratchet… I'm… I…" he stuttered. Ratchet was about to verbally grind Jetfire into dust, when he noticed something. The Omega Keys suffered no damage. Instead, they became fused together.
"Now that is interesting." Ratchet observed. The two scientists added the remaining two Keys so that they formed a cross configuration. The Keys leapt into the air and projected a holographic globe of Cybertron. A flashing red dot denoted the Omega Lock's position. "There." Jetfire indicated.
"Optimus, everyone, we have the location of the Omega Lock." Ratchet announced. The Autobots gathered around the work station and anticipated the coordinates. "We have determined that the Omega Lock is located in the Northern Hemisphere, in the middle of the Sea of Rust." Ratchet explained.
"Autobots, prepare to roll out." Optimus ordered. "We will need every weapon, every tool, and every method at our disposal." The Autobots went to the storage vaults to collect their preferred item. Bumblebee chose the Magnetizer, Bulkhead chose the Forge of Solus Prime, Arcee chose the Apex armor, Jetfire chose the Spark Extractor, and Jenny chose the Phase Shifter. "Today, we venture to Cybertron to restore our home. We must remain alert. Though Megatron does not possess a Space Bridge, I doubt that will stop him from finding a way to thwart us." Optimus assured.
"Autobots, transform and roll out!" the Prime declared. The Autobots charged through their Space Bridge and arrived on the desolate and war torn surface of Cybertron. Jenny had seen horrible things before but this ranked among the top five. Nothing seemed to be intact from the buildings to the highways and even the ground seemed to be in a state of disrepair.
"Oh my gosh…" Jenny gasped. "This is Cybertron?" Optimus surveyed the barren landscape with a familiar sense of melancholy. "Indeed. The Great War devastated the planet. But, with the help of the Omega Keys, this will become a mere memory." The Autobots didn't have to go far to reach the Sea of Rust and after a short trek, they reached the coordinates indicated by the Omega Keys.
The Keys themselves began to glow a brilliant light blue as a giant blue ring appeared on the ground. A grand structure rose from the ground consisting of the aforementioned ring and four pillars along the circumference. The center of the structure housed the receptacles for the Omega Keys. The Omega Lock finished rising from the ground and the Autobots took a minute to admire it.
The Autobots gave a chorus of admiration for the imposing device. After what seemed like eternity, Optimus snapped out of his awe filled daze. "Jetfire, take to the skies and patrol the area." He ordered. Jetfire nodded and shifted into his vehicle mode before rocketing into the sky. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, Jenny; each of you will take an Omega Key. I will keep watch from the ground." The rest complied with their respective orders.
Just before the Autobots could insert the Omega Keys into the Omega Lock, Jetfire gave a frantic warning. "Optimus, we have incoming!" Optimus turned his attention away from his task and looked up. "What do you see Jetfire?" he asked. "I don't believe it but… it's the Nemesis." Optimus's optics widened in shock. He expected Megatron to catch up to them, but not that fast. How did he get here that quickly? Optimus thought.
Flashback 48 Hours…
"Are you actually going to go through with this?!" Starscream exclaimed. "We have little choice Starscream. The Autobots are close to finding the Omega Keys. Too close for us to start building another Space Bridge." Megatron explained. "But, we don't have any idea how the engines will handle the Red Energon!" Starscream protested. "That is a risk that we must be prepared to take. I trust Shockwave to proceed with the appropriate amount of caution."
"Yes… your new Second in Command…" Starscream growled with distaste. "In any case, the mining operation is nearly complete and we need to head out immediately." Megatron reminded. "Now, return to the Harbinger and resume supervision of our work there." He ordered. Starscream bowed his head in defeat. "Yes, my lord." He bridged to the coordinates to supervise the project.
"Shockwave, meet me in the reactor chamber and prepare the Red Energon." Megatron ordered. Long story short, Megatron and Shockwave placed the Red Energon into the reactor which increased the Nemesis's speed exponentially. So exponentially that they arrived at Cybertron in a matter of hours as opposed to weeks under normal full engine power. They found the Autobots by tracing the massive energy signature that the Omega Lock put out.
"I am quite impressed, Shockwave." Megatron praised from the flight deck of his warship. "Decepticons, begin our assault!" Megatron and a legion of Jet Vehicons and Insecticons shifted into Vehicle mode and launched off of the flight deck. The massive formation dove toward the Autobots like a swarm of angry bees… which is appropriate considering half of them resembled insects.
Jetfire desperately tried to ward off the incoming attackers, but they proved too numerous for his to handle. He dove back toward the ground in order to bring the assailants within range of the other Autobots' weapons. With the Nemesis providing supporting fire, the Decepticons continued their downward charge. Optimus drew the Star Saber and shot several energy waves up at the Decepticons. The rest of the Autobots joined him in returning fire.
The Autobots' attacks took out a good number of Decepticons, but the evil robots continued their assault anyway. They shifted into robot mode and charged the Omega Lock. Optimus sent wave after wave of energy at the attacking Decepticons and his friends backed him up with covering fire. Vehicon after Vehicon fell to the Autobot defenders. Just then, Jetfire swooped down and dropped the Spark Extractor in the middle of a group of Vehicons.
The weapon detonated and shorted out the circuits of every Vehicon with 200ft of its position. Meanwhile Arcee smashed Decepticons left and right with the Apex armor alongside Bulkhead who pounded on an Insecticon with the Forge of Solis Prime. Bumble fused several Vehicons together with the Magnetizer and Jenny used the Phase Shifter to take down her opponents from the inside. Optimus got a few hits on the Nemesis, forcing it to withdraw to a higher orbit over Cybertron.
The battle raged for several minutes and eventually, Megatron was the only Decepticon left standing. The Autobots surrounded him and brought their weapons to bear. "Surrender, Megatron!" Optimus demanded. "It's over." Suddenly, Ratchet detected something on his scope. "Optimus, reinforcements just arrived! Another Decepticon warship." The Autobots looked up and sure enough, the warship was descending toward the Autobots.
"Is that the Harbinger?" Arcee asked in shock. "What else could it be? The Cons must have repaired it while we were out looking for the Keys." Jetfire replied. A Ground Bridge opened up not far from the Omega Lock and out stepped Knockout, Starscream and Soundwave along with more Vehicons and Insecticons. Each of the Decepticon officers held a pod in their giant robot hands. The three pods contained the Autobots' human companions.
"Hehehehe. I believe it is time for you to surrender Optimus." Megatron said smugly. "Unless you want your human friends to die once they are exposed to the toxic atmosphere." Starscream scratched Jacks pod with his claws to drive the point home. "Don't listen to them guys!" Miko yelled. "Yeah, use the keys yourselves!" Jack agreed. Optimus just stood there in stunned shock and utter disbelief. "Autobots… stand down." He ordered in dismay. Reluctantly the Autobots threw down their weapons.
"Good. Now, hand over the Omega Keys." Megatron demanded. Optimus retracted his mask. "The children first." He countered. Megatron shook his head in disagreement. "I am not willing to trust you implicitly. How about this? I will give you one child in exchange for each key." Megatron proposed. Optimus lowered his head in thought. "Optimus, don't do it!" Raf pleaded. "We'll understand." Miko spoke next. "Raf's right. We knew the risks involved. If this is how it ends…" Miko couldn't finish because she started to get choked up.
"It's you're call Optimus." Jenny said. Optimus looked back at Megatron. "I accept your offer." He agreed, the words more bitter than black coffee. "I knew you would see reason Optimus." Megatron teased. Optimus turned to Bumblebee as a way of telling him to give Knockout the first key. Bumblebee walked over to the deranged doctor and handed him the Omega Key. Knockout took the Key and handed over Raf.
Next, Bulkhead walked over with his key and gave it to Soundwave. The communications officer, in turn, gave Bulkhead the pod that housed Miko. She turned around and stuck her tongue out at her former captor. Before Jack's exchange happened, Megatron had a thought. "I think that the one entrusted by Optimus should be worth two Keys." Jenny and Arcee exchanged looks before walking toward Starscream. His smug grin was nearly enough for both to want to wipe it off his face. For Jack's sake, they traded the Keys peacefully.
Starscream gave one of the Keys he received to Megatron. "Finally. Now, bear witness to the power of the Omega Keys!" Megatron declared. He and his subordinates inserted the Omega Keys into their receptacles and keyed in a set of coordinates on the control panel. A pool of energy formed in the center of the ring and a brilliant beam of energy burst from it.
The bolt made contact with a destroyed building. After a few seconds, the beam dissipated and the once ruined building looked good as new. "Whoa." Jenny gasped. Megatron smiled widely. "I just thought of something. Why conquer one world when I can have two?" he reasoned. Megatron keyed in a new set of coordinates and the beam shot straight up into the air at speeds exceeding the speed of light. Optimus's optics widened with realization. "You're cyber forming Earth!" he exclaimed. "I think I shall rename it: New Kaon." Megatron boasted.
Seconds later, the beam made impact with Earth. Agent Fowler was in close proximity and looked out his window when he heard the beam strike the ground. "What in the name of Betsy Ross?" he gasped. Meanwhile in the Autobot base, Ratchet picked up the beam too. "Optimus I am reading a massive energy signature impacting the Earth's surface." He reported. "Don't do this Megatron!" Optimus pleaded. "The humans will die!" Megatron only grinned. "That is of no consequence. My priority is the survival of our race. Not theirs."
Optimus's mind raced to think of a way to shut down the Omega Lock. Destroying it is the only way. Optimus realized. Unfortunately, the Star Saber was out of his reach and the Decepticons had their weapons at the ready should he try to pull anything. Jenny was way ahead of him on that one. She fired gas, smoke, and flash missiles from her shoulders to blind the Decepticons. "Optimus now!" she screamed. The Decepticons fired blindly as they tried to reestablish visual contact.
Optimus seized the moment and picked up the Star Saber. Forgive me Alpha Trion. He thought. The Autobot leader charged through the smoke and laser fire as the other Autobots resumed fire. At the last second, he leapt into the air and brought his blade down on the Omega Lock. The device exploded in a shower of debris and the beam fizzled out. "Ratchet, bridge us back now!" Optimus yelled. A Space Bridge vortex opened up and the Autobots retreated through it.
After the smoke cleared, Megatron ordered his forces back to their ships. Meanwhile, the Autobots sulked back into their base defeated. Ratchet closed the Ground Bridge and turned toward his friends. "What happened?" he asked. For a moment, everyone remained quiet. "Somebody say something!" Ratchet demanded. Bulkhead finally spoke up. "Optimus… destroyed the Omega Lock."
Ratchet looked at his old friend in shock and disbelief. "What? You destroyed our only hope of ever reviving Cybertron? Optimus… we needed that." Jenny stepped in. "You weren't there Ratchet. And it's not your place to question a battlefield decision. "It. Most. Certainly is!" he exclaimed. "There had to be another way."
"It wasn't that simple." Jack explained. "Megatron was using the Omega Lock to attack the Earth." Raf added. "Optimus save our planet." Miko argued. Ratchet could no longer contain himself. All the frustration, pain, and anger within him exploded at that moment. "What about our planet? All of our struggles and energon spilled and countless sacrifices? For nothing?!"
"Look. Right call or wrong, what happened is done." Jetfire began. "But Megatron changed the rules when he put the children into play. Out of nowhere, the comm link's tri tone sounded and Agent Fowler appeared on the main monitor. "Prime?! The Pentagon's about to go to DEFCON 1. I need to know what we're dealing with." Fowler reported. Optimus cocked an optic brow. "To what are you referring Agent Fowler?" he wondered.
"Maybe you should see for yourselves." Fowler suggested dryly. The Autobots boarded the main lift and rose to the out of the base. What they saw took them all by surprise. A massive citadel pierced the blue sky over Nevada. The black structure literally stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the mesas of the desert. "Megatron has begun the first step of the cyber forming of Earth: The construction of his Fortress." He observed.
"But why Jasper?" Arcee questioned. "Because," Optimus began. "The Decepticons have found the location of our base…"
A/N: BUM BUM BUUUUM Sorry to leave on that cliff hanger but that seems like a good place to stop. And don't tell me that I combined Regeneration with Darkest Hour because I already know that. For real this time, the next chapter will be the last. Don't worry though. I'm going to write a sequel called: My Life as a Teenage Beast Hunter.